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OctDber 2, 1989

Captain-.z

Entered the Fire Dept

I was told from the very beginning that I wasn't able to drive or work
at any station other than Station #1. When I asked why I was told
because we have to have a black at every station and I was the one at
Station #1.
Station #1: No supervision
I was the firefighter on Engine #8 at Station #1. I wasn't trained
other than rookie school, all other training was O.J.T.(On the Job
Training). I would go on a call, come back to the station and evacuate
myself and plan on improving by reading a book on the subject. While
white firefighters were patted on the back for messing up. If I asked
questions, I was made to feel dumb so I didn't ask very many questions.
Second Driver
I was not allowed to drive or to become a second driver because the
white captains didn't want a black man driving for them. So this put me
as a disadvantage, when taking the lieutenant test. I scored well at the
written test. But on the practical test I was set up to fail. The test
was on the very trucks I wasn't allowed to drive.
Captain,...&
Lieutenant __
When the captain or lieutenant when on vacation the house captain
would bring someone from another station or someone junior on
another truck to drive my truck. When I asked why I was told I didn't
have enough time. When I pointed out that I was senior to some other
fire fighter it was explained to me that I didn't have enough training.
I

Chief
I tried to talk to the chief about what was happening so I went to
Station #5 to work overtime, I was put on the back of the fire truck.
The fire fighter driving that night was'-,
he had only been
a firefighter for two weeks. I had been in the fire department almost
3 years. That night we went to Pit Slip Marina where Lieutenant
___
had a talk with Chie~.
I asked the chief if I could
use his open door policy in the morning. The next morning the chief and
I rode over to Garden Street to watch the first stage of the San
Carlos Hotel get tore down. I told him about the situation and he got
mad. But instead of working on the problem he called a staff meeting
on me. So I didn't talk to him any more about that situation. The
Battalion Chief came to me and let me know that he wasn't pleased with
me._).
Testing
I took the test for Lieutenant in 1993, I scored 91 out of 109
questions on the written test. On the driver's test I went from the top
ten to 19th on the list. This was because the test is based on a driving
and pumping coarse that a person should be able to do well if the field
is level, but back firefighters don't get the same training as white
firefighters at the same level of experience. When I took the captains
test in 1998 I didn't study so I did poorly I scored in the 60's. The
next time the test was given in 2000. I was called 12:00 noon on the
day before the test because of a class I didn't have. I asked how I
could I take the test. The next month I took he class. The next time
the test was given I didn't take the test because of only one opening. I
found out all the white union members knew the deal was in the work
for 6 more jobs.

Training
I had put in paperwork for classes that I thought would help me along
in my career. Because they were taught by black firefighters, I
thought that I wasn't allowed to go. I had my name drawn from a hat
to go to the class and put back to let a white firefighter go.
KKK
I observed a white captain place a sheet over his head and act like he

was apart of the Ku Klux Klan.The captain's name was Captain_